


Pressing Matters

by RKS



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, MINDHACC, Major Spoilers, Suffering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 09:02:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11181444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RKS/pseuds/RKS
Summary: [ MAJOR SPOILERS FOR CHAPTERS 5 AND 6  ]When the bullet pierced Tsumugi's skin, it felt nice.And when the press began to close in on Kokichi, it felt even nicer.





	Pressing Matters

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Jewell :^))

It was a boring way to go out, but Kokichi could’ve lived with dying by poison. But, he somehow knew that destiny wouldn’t allow someone as grand as him to go out with a whimper. No, he _had_ to go out with a bang of some sort.

Tsumugi jumping in front of him, taking the killing blow and pushing them both into the nearest lockable room was far beyond his expectations, though.

As he took a second to gather his thoughts - if anything, he was expecting an impulsive idiot like Kaito to take it for him - he noticed Tsumugi heading over to something in the back of the room, near the presser.

She came back with a flask that he recognized as the antidote for the poison Maki shot into him. Instead of taking the whole swig for herself, she took a slight sip, and then handed the rest of the very full bottle to Kokichi.

Kokichi would’ve been more suspicious of her - more than he already was - but he could’ve sworn the poison was messing with his brain. The worst Tsumugi could do now was kill him; which would be all too obvious for the class trial. He trusted that the everybody would convict her.

Trust. What a funny word.

Kokichi took a big swig of the glass - he made sure not to leave a drop for Tsumugi. Strangely enough, she didn’t look like she minded that in particular. She just looked euphoric, nostalgic, and disappointed. All at once.

It was very strange, but it’s not like Kokichi would ever admit that to her.

“Kokichi, do you know what was supposed to happen? Do you?”  
  
Tsumugi paused, like she was expecting an answer. She didn’t get one (all she got was a patronizing raise of the eyebrow) so she kept going.

“Maki wasn’t supposed to have pulled out that gun at all. She was supposed to bite her tongue and keep on with her hatred, but never acting upon it. She was supposed to find Kaito tomorrow, bloodied up because of his disease. She was supposed to see Shuichi’s hat - stained - on Kaito’s dresser, which Shuichi left behind at the nightly training meeting. She was supposed to think that Kaito killed Shuichi, when he really just accidentally coughed up blood on the hat. She was supposed to be furious the one person that made her feel something was supposedly just as if not more bad than her. She was supposed to take out that gun and kill him.”  
  
“Enlighten me, then. Why didn’t she?”  
  
“Who knows? I’m sure you want to think it’s because, inevitably, someone will defy our programming as you did. And you're right; it happens more often than one would think. Mindhacking is a fickle thing. It was just a matter of time before someone pulled the trigger a day before they were supposed to and ruin everything.”

“Tsumugi,” Kokichi said, voice dangerous. “Are you implying you’re the mastermind?”  
  
“Haha... i'm not even _implying_ it anymore,” Tsumugi said. “But yes, I am. ...there aren’t any weapons here besides the presser, so don’t think about it. I’ll die because of the poison soon, anyway.”  
  
Kokichi completely ignored anything out of her mouth and lunged for her, in a poor attempt to imitate Maki’s many choking attempts on him. Tsumugi dodged it so fast Kokichi had to wonder if she had the wrong talent.

“C-Calm down, dear! Look, i’ll die anyway, so just hear me out. And i’m not the only mastermind, there’s another one.”

“An-”

“SHUT UP!” Tsumugi shouted, with an almost otherworldly force. Kokichi shut his mouth. “Jeez, let me talk! Do you want the mystery to be unsolved?! I'm gonna die anyway, so just hear me out!”  
  
Kokichi kept his mouth shut. Tsumugi took it as acceptance.

“Anyway, as I was saying, you and Maki went completely off script. That happens often enough, and it’s always exciting when it happens, so good job! ...it still makes me sad, but I should’ve expected this. You were always extraordinary, so it should’ve made sense you’d fight off the brainwashing. And even though you went off script... it’s okay. I can salvage this.”

“By killing me?”  
  
Tsumugi looked sorry. Kokichi didn't buy it. “...yes. That’s usually what happens when people go off script; we have to improvise, and unfortunately, someone as rebellious as you has to die before it gets even worse. It’s a shame, Kokichi. We were supposed to be joint masterminds, you and me. The audience would know you were one of the ringleaders for a while, but who would expect _me_? I’m too plain and ordinary to put on anything like this, which is why - before all of this - we brainstormed together.”

Kokichi felt his face scrunching up. “What?”  
  
“We had to take the memories out of you, because we thought having a mastermind that didn’t quite know he was one would be interesting. But you and me… we’re Team Danganronpa employees, together. We’ve been partners for years; oh, now you’re making me nostalgic!”

“I would never willingly work for you.”  
  
“You didn't work for me. You worked _with_ me.”  
  
Tsumugi held out something; it was a ratty, worn journal. On the cover was the name “Tsumugi Shirogane” written in silky smooth script, likely from a fountain pen. Little stars and dots were all around it.

Below Tsumugi’s signature was his very, very familiar scribble that he didn’t remember ever making, done in a thick sharpie marker. Horrible puns were written all around it, as were bad drawings of characters that simultaneously were similar and alien.

Kokichi opened the journal. The same fountain pen and the sharpie marker wrote all over every page in the journal and then some, considering the back was covered as well. Eerily enough, he could see drawings of his own friends, with notes next to them. “Sisterfucker”, “gay for magic”, and next to the scarily accurate drawing of himself, “best boi”. Next to the elegant drawing of Tsumugi were detailed, neat notes, besides the note he himself (didn’t) make - “cute af”.

There were also scribbles of a bunch of people he didn’t know; there was a clown, a toxicologist, a sniper, an adventurer, a storyteller…

...and then there were pages filled with doodles of things that both didn’t matter and made all of the difference, like tic-tac-toe games, drawing battles, and even short little stories of people he did(n’t) know. One he supposedly wrote - about some girl called Kyoko - spanned 3 pages. Tsumugi wrote criticism in the margins.  
  
“Kokichi, i’m sure that you’re thinking that i’m doing this to see you suffer. And i’m not, really. I’m not a despair fetishist like Junko, as much as I like her. Actually, I…” It took a few swallows for Tsumugi to muster up the next few words. “...Kokichi, I _love_ you. We were supposed to survive together, we were supposed to be the two survivors of this game, and then we were going to go back to the drawing board! You’d show off your creativity and passion with a plethora of creative ideas, and I’d make them real using my practical knowledge… oh, Kokichi, this is breaking me up as bad as you. Whatever we did to you, it made you _wrong_.”

“...you’re still killing me,” Kokichi said. “Clearly you don’t love me _that_ much.”

“No, Kokichi, I do, you have _no_ idea.” Tsumugi said. “Try to remember, please. The long nights we stayed up, discussing past seasons and what we could’ve done to improve them… your long rants on the poor characterization of Ryo from last season, and how you could make a character better in every way… how we helped each other with our homework, went to school together, even went to prom together as a couple… don’t you remember all of that?”  
  
Kokichi forcefully pushed her away - he could almost hear her her heart shatter. “Nishishi! You’re really good at lying, Tsumugi! If you expect me to believe one word of this speech that is specifically built for killing me, you’re---”  
  
His speech was cut short by the sound of Tsumugi’s laughs.

“I’ve never really interacted with you ingame, Kokichi… it’s been so long.” Tsumugi said. “You sound exactly like the old you…”  
  
Kokichi wouldn’t have been surprised if she said a vein was popping out of his forehead. “Okay, NOW i’m getting angry! What’s stopping me from shanking you and getting the whole gang to leave this place behind?”  
  
“What proof do you have that i’m the mastermind other than my own word?” Tsumugi said. “Maki would kill you within seconds the minute you walk out those doors.”  
  
“But they’d be free to leave, wouldn’t they?” Kokichi said. “If my death is what’s needed to stop you, that’s all I need!"

“...you sound… oh, Kokichi, you don’t understand…” Tsumugi said. “I may be the mastermind, but Team Danganronpa is like… well, you always called them the bossmen, back then. A silly mishap like this one will do nothing to stop their reign. They’re eternal, Kokichi. Can you fight back against eternity? Can you fight back against a dictatorship that everyone adores?”  
  
“I can!” Kokichi said. “I probably won’t win, but enough chips in their defenses is enough to see it break. I'll willingly be one of those chips.”  
  
“But how would you chip their defenses even the slightest bit? Contrary to popular belief, none of the show is live. They edit everything out. There have been countless rebellions in past seasons; the games have blown up, the beta audience lost faith, people have escaped… but why do you think that matters in the face of Team Danganronpa? An organization that everybody absolutely loves, with power akin to countries?”  
  
Kokichi felt himself losing face; he quickly put a faker one back on. Tsumugi was too in anguish to notice, he hoped; it almost seemed like her hair and sanity were coming apart at the seams. She was almost hysterical.

It was the most believable lie Kokichi had seen in his life.

“So why fight? Why even try to rebel? You understood, back then; if you can’t beat them, join them, and you’ll be rewarded. You love Team Danganronpa, maybe even more than me. And it’s not like Team Danganronpa is some eldrich being either; both of us were good friends with so many of the higher ups, and even the inner circle. Our love for the team - our love for our family away from home - isn’t something that can get simply erased.”

Tsumugi took out a photo from her vest’s pocket; she was doing her best not to get tears on it. The photograph looked so worn out - it definitely was used more than any ordinary photograph.

Tsumugi held it out, and Kokichi took it. When he saw the ten people that were in the photograph, he felt his reality shatter.

He was in the center, in his classic white straitjacket with his old, ratty cape and cap. He hadn’t worn those in ages. And next to him were…

“DICE…?”  
  
Tsumugi nodded. “Actually, Kokichi, the two of us were on a budget when we were making this season. At Team Danganronpa’s private Halloween party, you and the rest of the inner circle were all in matching outfits that I made - we were testing out potential outfits for the rest of the cast. I was trying on a beta version of Miu’s outfit, that had barbed wire on it - I have the scars to prove it.” Tsumugi gestured to her hand. There were actually small indents in it. “Oh, anyway, I took a picture of all of you together, and everyone in the circle started making comments about how that was such a good picture to use for your backstory. In fact, it was almost like a jam session - we made up your entire backstory that day, solely on the clown costumes. ...we also made Korekiyo’s, when drunk. And horny.”

Tsumugi somehow managed to giggle and be wistful at the same time - it reminded Kokichi of every time he laughed.

“You could still be lying!"

“No,” Tsumugi said. “I’m not lying. I’m really not. Kokichi… you have no idea how much I love you. You were such an amazing person out there and you’re an amazing character in here. In fact, you’re one of the most popular we’ve had in years.”

She took out her phone - it was a flip one, bright pink and with a ton of brooches. It made him nostalgic. A page was already open.

 

 **IS KOKICHI OUMA ONE OF, IF NOT YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER THIS SEASON?** **  
** **YES** : 83%

 **NO** : 17%

_“tfw i wanna hate him for killing gonta but i wanna know what this boi does next”_

_"Koko! If you kill my son off i’ll kill_ you _!”_

_“he’s shit but entertaining shit”_

_“LITERALLY MASTERMIND KOMAEDA”_

 

It took Kokichi a second to realize that was an actual poll that - presumably - Team Danganronpa put out.

It took him another, longer second to realize that the name Komaeda sounded familiar. He got the urge to go on a rant. ...about what, he didn’t know.

He held down any feeling that the picture had surfaced in him, like he'd been doing the entire killing game; if you just cheat and lie and hate and push everyone away there will be nobody left to see your weakness. Kokichi couldn't bear to think that someone as irrelevant and evil as Tsumugi had come closer than anyone at breaking down his walls. He was in absolute denial that her hand was reaching through the wall, beckoning him to join her in... something.

It was inviting. More than it should've ever been.

“Someone like you, who’s clever, smart, has common sense, entertaining, kind, can overcome the brainwashing, but still knows the truth deep inside...” Tsumugi said. “God, how could I _not_ fall in love, both out there and inside?”

“You---” Kokichi said, but Tsumugi stopped him.

“If you really don’t believe me, Kokichi, tell me that you don’t love me.” Tsumugi said. “Right now.”  
  
Kokichi opened his mouth, but the words wouldn’t come. No matter how hard he tried to profess his hatred, he just couldn’t put it into words.

He could barely put it into thoughts either.

“I…” He muttered. “I… I… ha…”

Tsumugi clearly didn’t take that as a response, because she pretty much ran towards Kokichi and threw her arms around him. Kokichi didn’t know why his hands were going on her back, or why he was leaning into her.

Maybe it’s because it’s the first non-violent human contact he’s had in ages. Maybe because he found someone who tolerated him for who he is - heck, even gave a shit about him. Maybe it's because when faced with the facts, he just can’t deny Tsumugi’s story anymore.

Kokichi even let Tsumugi lean in and kiss him. Her lips were plain. He leaned in as much as he could in reciprocation.

Why did failing his mission feel so _good_?

After what felt like a minute, the two of them broke apart. Tsumugi’s hand was still resting on his shoulder, and she was looking at him like he was god. Kokichi, starved of anything resembling love, ate it up like a starving man.

“You are so perfect, Kokichi...” Tsumugi said. “I’m sorry everything has come to this.”  
  
“...i’m sorry, too.” Kokichi said. Sorry for what, he didn’t know. “Do you… just want to get it over with?”

“That’s a good idea.” She kissed his head. “That’s a really good idea. But for now, can we just… sit here? We don’t have a lot of time, but… i’m willing to stall.”  
  
“...i’d like that.”

The two of them sat there, on the rusty table, for about ten minutes. Those ten minutes were supposed to be peaceful; but when has Kokichi Ouma ever done anything resembling “peaceful”? Tsumugi was coughing up blood every other second, and Kokichi had to keep a hand on her to keep her stable. But as more and more blood covered the room - and their clothes - Tsumugi slowly got more and more visibly delirious. Any sanity left seem to have slipped her. Kokichi tried to help by cracking jokes, which got a few half-hearted chuckles out of Tsumugi.

After a particularly bad heave, Kokichi opened his mouth to say something - it could’ve be a joke, it could’ve been encouragement. But he was stopped by Tsumugi’s face that was suddenly beyond pale and far gone.

“Kokichi, please, please, tell me you love me once more before you go, please, PLEASE!” Tsumugi gasped. “I don’t know how i’ll… please... please…”

“...”

Kokichi’s arms wrapped around her in a hug. Her tears mixed with his. He didn’t know why he was crying.

“I love you too,” He said, and for reasons that he refused to acknowledge, it was genuine.

Kokichi felt himself get lifted up in Tsumugi’s arms - she didn’t even look like it was a struggle to pick him up. She was still sobbing as she carried him over to the presser and placed him down onto the cold surface.

“Will it hurt?”

Tsumugi sobered up quickly, but she was still sniffling. Kokichi didn’t cry. He could spill crocodile tears, but he couldn’t spill anything that was honest. He already felt dead.  
  
“I-I hope not, but it probably will…” Tsumugi said. “A lot. The presser is slow. You will feel everything as it happens to you. Oh, god...”  
  
“Oh,” Kokichi said. He made no attempt to get up. “Okay. What will happen to you?”  
  
“G-Guess i’ll die,” Tsumugi said. He finger was hovering over the activation button. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we set a record for the s-shortest class trial in history. I’m not going to even attempt to h-hide.”  
  
“What will happen to everyone else?”  
  
Tsumugi closed her eyes. “K-Kiibo is controlled by the viewers, but Team Danganronpa can control him as well. I am certain they’ll pass him off as the mastermind, and the two designated survivors - Himiko and Shuichi - will continue the vicious cycle. A-As for Maki… she’ll probably die because of Kiibo, or more likely, left to an unsure fate. This unsure fate usually ends with Team Danganronpa forcefully taking her in, brainwashing her again, and using her a-as their... loyal attack dog. Or, if s-she’s unlucky, she’ll undergo surgery and be placed in the game again as Harukawa’s sister or something. T-They’ve done it before, with Kaede Akamatsu. Or, maybe, i’ll die before the trial, and she’ll be...”

Kokichi lowered his eyes. “Can’t say i’m surprised. Well…” He forced out a laugh. It didn’t sound like one; it sounded like he was choking on his own spit. “...i’ll see you on the flipside, Tsumugi. In a better life.”  
  
“I hope so,” Tsumugi said, like she was sane. She pushed the button.

Kokichi saw the presser come down, but he still felt nothing. Even as it burned against his skin and drove his body into the unrelenting metal, he felt nothing. And, when his brain turned to mush - literally - he didn’t have any thoughts about what could've been, even as he could feel his body getting slowly, surely ripped open. The only thing he could think as his body was mutilated was that Tsumugi’s outfit was looking a lot more red.

And, apparently, she had no more tears left to shed. All she could do was wave for the past and future they lost as Kokichi was crushed into dust.

**Author's Note:**

> Will I ever write a story where Kokichi is in a healthy relationship? The answer is no.


End file.
